hrmmm….i think its funny how all these idiots are more worried about the stupid cat in the picture than how funny it is.. do you really think this little girl knows what the hell she’s doing… nooooooo……besides.. its a cat….who cares……you could throw it agains the wall and it would still be fine. animals are not people, yet you care more about them, than ourselves. sad sad sad world.

.. I don’t think this qualifies as abuse, but I would argue that throwing a cat, or any animal, against a wall would definitely be abuse.

“animals are not people”. what do you mean you care more about them than “ourselves”? Are you referring to the millions of people in oppressed 3rd-world communist governments? people without steady incomes? victims of human trafficking? Well if you are, I doubt you give them any more thought than an “animal lover”.

I have a cat that looks tortured in every picture I have of him, and I’ve been called out on it before. That’s just the way he looks. Like many people have said, if that cat didn’t want to be there, IT WOULDN’T BE.
I bet many of you who are posting “pc” crap about animal cruelty are sitting down to a nice beefy dinner tonight. And anyone with any sense knows that those slaughtered cows are treated much worse than a family pet.

You losers that are calling this animal cruelty need to get off your high horse. How many of you have actually had cats or even pets for that matter? We have four now and I’ve had cats all my life. That kitten is fine. The second photo reinforces that. My question to all the ones that call this animal cruelty: Are you vegan? If not, you better consider your hypocrisy.

this is soooooo funny.i love cats,have three and they rule the house,not us.if a cat doesn’t want to do something it will not do it.this is a very patient kitty who really would’ve stayed for another 2 seconds before fleeing.at least she wasn’t trying to fit the whole litter on the bus,kitty got every seat for herself!

Wow, a lot of you people are exactly what’s wrong with this world today. You’re way too “pc,” way too sensitive and way too judgmental (among other things). You all need to learn how to lighten up, take things for what they are and not go jumping to conclusions and passing poor judgments on people having no idea what is really going on. Maybe if you spent more time looking at yourselves in the mirrors you would be able to see things how they are, and not how we are and how you expect them or want them to be. The kitten is completely fine, they do tend to grab on (quite hard if I do say so myself) with their dagger like little claws just when they are even playing, not even getting hurt. So lighten up people and learn to love life and the people in it without passing judgment and criticizing.

This kind of thing is never cute. Good job parents for not teaching your child that animals – especially an infant animal such as t his – should not be treated like an inanimate toy, but as a living, breathing creature who has nerve endings and feels pain and fear. .

At first I was put off by the photo, but then I looked closer and honestly, it looks like kitty is simply being pet (the kid’s hand is loose, not tight) and the kitten’s front paws are down, in a resting position. I have no idea what exactly is going on, but it looks like both the kitten and the girl are simply playing…and maybe learning about each other in the process.

I’m willing to bet that all of you claiming this is animal abuse have never had a kitten. That is a relaxed cat being petted. Nothing more. And there is no way a child could have put that kitten in the bus, not without needing stitches anyway.

I’m a cat person, and a kid person, and this photo is adorable all around. This little girl is two or three at the most–you people carping that she ought to know better need to brush up on your developmental psych, and then lighten up.

I was the one who submitted this photo of my sister back in the 70s, and I stated in my submission that was unfortunately not published that the kitten was not harmed during the “photo shoot”. lol. WHY WOULD I SUBMIT A PHOTO IF A KITTEN WAS BEING ABUSED?

I love this picture. Thank you for sharing it, Katy; and thanks for sharing the story behind it. As others have stated, if the cat were actually bothered by this, the little girl would be crying over having been scratched by the time the picture was taken. My younger brother (who was probably about 7-8 at the time) used to throw one of our cats up in the air, making him do a backflip, and then catch him. My mom was upset the first time she saw him do it…until she realised the cat was purring the entire time.

Ah, so that’s why you’re being ultra defensive all over this thread. Instead of scolding everyone by calling them “haters” and “disgusting,” perhaps sit back and think for a second about this photo.

Little kids that age don’t know what’s appropriate when handling pets. It’s a common issue that most of us pet owners have dealt with. And when you see a cat’s head twisted that way in a non-pliable plastic bus, held there by a little kid who is too young to be unsupervised with any pet, well, the first thought is that cat is getting hurt. That’s what it looks like in the photo, and this is a site that is all about what the photo looks like. In other photos here, do you really think people are having sexual relations with their pets? Nope, it just LOOKS like it. That’s why the photo is here.

In this case, the photo LOOKS like it depicts a little kid roughly handling a kitten. That’s why it’s here, and that’s why you submitted it.

OMG! I used to have that bus! I had totally forgotten about it until I saw this picture. Cute pic. As a cat owner for years I can assure you it doesnt look hurt in anyway. Its legs would be flailing (sp??) about if it was.

Oh please people…I have two cats…they have the unique ability to get themselves out of anything they do not want to do. (i.e. being put in the carrier to go to the vet. I have the scars to prove it). For all we know this little girl is not squeezing this cat’s head. If I pet my cat’s head and ears gently it looks all flat too. This kitty will have taken the kid out if it was in any pain or danger.

I think it’s pretty disgusting that you assume the worst in this photo, when in actuality the kitten was fine afterward, and even during as it was a chill kitty, and lived a long healthy long and loved life for years after.

Lets all stop assuming the worst and enjoy the hilarity of the timing of this photo being snapped. It would not have been submitted if that kitten was being abused FFS.

You’re looking at this as a case of animal cruelty? I laughed when I saw this and thought it was cute. I agree, kittens shouldn’t be given to toddlers, but seriously, lighten up, she’s not torturing the poor thing! I have two cats myself, had them since they were kittens, and the above cat owners know that cats can get into very awkward positions. Ever see kittens in tea cups? That’s a lot smaller than this. I am very sensitive about the issues of animal cruelty and that thought never even came to mind when I first saw this. Try going through this site and see other photos of kids manhandling pets…after the photo, the pet fights back and little Timmy or Suzie cries with a boo boo, knowing not to do it again.

as a cat person…i find this hilarious and think some of you people don’t know what funny is. as has been stated, this kitten wouldn’t have put up with this very long if it was uncomfortable. you need to lighten up.

I am agree with you Mavennica. I think here parents are responsible for that rather than that child. Because that child even don’t have much understanding to know how much it is hurting for that kitten.

Mavennica with all respect, how do we know the little girl is aware of animal cruelty? I think we can understand that a child at that age may not know the morality of animal cruelty. Further, tanning her hide or any other euphemism for spanking?/hitting? a child doesn’t seem to be a constructive way for dealing with cruelty issues.

If she is “not aware of animal cruelty”, as you say, how about parents didn’t gave her the cat then? Or perhaps taught her about animal cruelty? She seems old enough to understand simple concepts.
It’s as much their fault as hers, so there is no excuse for such behaviour.

So no one here has ever been owned by a cat? Honestly, if the kitten had a problem with what’s going on here they’d bloody well make it known. Cats are resiliant AND assertive, so no worries regarding animal cruelty with that one.

It looks worse than what it actually is. I had to get a picture of my cat’s bloody nose for the vet once and it looks like I’m strangling the cat but in reality I wasn’t even touching her neck. The ktten just has her head contorted in a weird way, trying to get free possibly, unless he/she likes laying on their back or is a very patient kitten and I have had cats that will put up with anything. I’m assuming this was a docile kitten, my female would have let this happen and enjoy it but I’m sure my male would have put up a fight and you might not emerge from that encounter with all your digits intact.

Trust me, that kitten wouldn’t be in that bus unless it was docile enough to allow it(a struggling kitten would never fit in the opening, try getting a struggling cat into a carrier which has a much larger opening and you’ll see what I mean.) They have teeth and claws and are very good about letting you know when they have reached their limit.

I think it’s cute and I’m sure the cat was fine, mine have slept with their heads in weirder positions than that.

Yeah, the girl might just be petting the kitten, even though it looks like she’s being rough. The kitten doesn’t look upset, either, and look how relaxed its legs are. And besides, if it didn’t want to be there, it would have been out of the bus before the picture was even taken. It’s pretty hard to hold on to a squirmy kitten who wants to get away, and this girl definitely isn’t doing that.

This is an excellent example of why very young children should not be given pets. They do not understand how to properly handle them, or how to know when an animal has had enough. That poor little kitty is being tortured. I don’t see anything cute about this picture.

Who said the girl was “given” the kitten. It looks like a family had a kid and a cat. I very much doubt it was “hers” per se. I’m sorry you did not enjoy the photo, but I am sure the family taught this little girl to be gentle, especially if the cat lived a long, healthy, HAPPY live as stated by the submitter.

This is probably because I fail to see everything done by a child as cute. Whether or not kittens are tough has nothing to do with it–a child should be taught how to properly handle a cat, not stuff the poor thing in its toys.

I have 2 kids and 2 cats and i have to agree with Mavennica. Children should be taught to respect animals and even if the kitten isn’t scratching and biting its way out of there, it still doesnt mean that its enjoying it. The fact that someone took a photo of it means they thought it was hilarious. hmm… i’ve seen funnier.

Hi. Were you there? So, you know for a fact that the kitten was being stuffed in the toy bus and not pet while laying there perfectly content? You know everything from this one second captured on film?

The kitten is fine. They’re mostly cartilage at that age and the child is not *trying* to hurt it. A kitten that age once bit my finger to the bone (when I took away a hot dog it had snagged from a, yes, toddler. ) THAT’S what kittens who are upset do. They don’t just lie about looking plaintive.

I would like to add that I don’t think this is abuse. I know the cat isn’t being hurt. I am just sympathetic to a cat that is being so patient and is willing to put up with a small child. As a parent of small children and a pet owner, I know they are tough and some of them put up with being “handled.” We make sure the dogs understand it isn’t ok to hurt the kids and make sure the kids know we don’t hurt the dogs.

This may be very awkward for the kitten, but I think this is the cutest photo on this site. I’d love to have it as my desktop background! Oh, and I still have that Fisher Price school bus, now I just need a kitten